MINISTERS AND AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14691, 27 May 1911, Page 6

MINISTERS AND AUCKLAND.

The visit of Mr. Thos. Mackenzie to Auckland is worthy of notice as being singularly free from any attempt to belittle the progress of the North or to discourage the legitimate aspirations of the Northern metropolis. We are so accustomed to the carping and resentful attitude which Ministers commonly assume when they appear among us, that the genial manner and intelligent comments of the Minister for Agriculture are all the more acceptable, contrasting forcibly with that of his colleague who pretended that Government House must be dispensed with because it was " rotting away," and that of other sapient Ministers who make no secret of their antagonisms. The Department of Agriculture notoriously requires a very considerable amount of reconstruction and reorganisation ; in the inevitable process the local requirements of every province will have to be considered, and that action taken which best serves the general good. Were Mr. Mackenzie unfriendly to and resentful against Auckland, as are some of his colleagues, we should be anxious as to the effect of any Departmental readjustments upon this province; under the circumstances we may hope for reasonable consideration which is all that Auckland or any other province can fairly claim. The confidence that an unprejudiced and fair-minded Minister will give due consideration to such fair claims ought to be felt by Auckland and every other district upon every administrative question. Unfortunately, it is so strange a confidence that it attracts attention, as have Mr. T. Mackenzie's shrewd perception and cordial recognition of the immense potentialities of the , North*